The plant will produce 20,000 tons annually of FeedKind branded protein. Initially, output will be available for use in China’s aquaculture market. The partners said first deliveries of the protein product to customers are pending.
The JV is focused though on bringing the next phase of the development forward – the partners anticipate getting output up to 80,000 tons per year.
Adisseo and Calysta say one of the benefits of the microbial protein that results is that it helps decouple feed production from land.
FeedKind, they explained, is generated during the fermentation of methanotrophic microorganisms along with scavenger microorganisms and methane, ammonia, and mineral salts. Methane is pumped through a fermenter and the microorganisms metabolize the gas to generate the high-protein biomass, which is dried and pelletized before use.
Formulation insights
Research released by Calysta earlier this month and published in Antioxidants claims FeedKind enhances health, growth, and survival rate in largemouth bass. Production of that farmed fish species is rapidly growing in China, noted the producer.
The 10-week growth study, which was carried out by the Institute of Feed Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, compared the performance of FeedKind-fed bass with a control group using a fishmeal-based feed.
Other observed benefits included better digestibility of dry matter and nutrients, better antioxidant capacity and better microbial diversity, according to the company.
Earlier research published in Frontiers in Marine Science indicated benefits for shrimp from supplementing their feed with the microbial protein, from promoting growth to also helping activate the shrimp’s immune response to Vibrio, the causative agent of Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS).
Another study, written up in Aquaculture, evaluated the use of FeedKind in the diet of Japanese yellowtail, with the findings indicating that the SCP can effectively replace 30% of fishmeal protein in the diet of yellowtail without any impact on growth rate, digestibility, daily feeding rate or feed efficiency.
